San Antonio nonprofits land grants for software to bolster programs, services

The grants to Prospera Housing Community Services and SA Youth draw on funding from the Ballmer Group, an organization co-founded by civic activist Connie Ballmer and her husband and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Photo: Max Ortiz /Detroit News

Two San Antonio nonprofits will receive matching grants from Social Solutions Global to offset part of the cost of the Austin firm’s software, which the groups say will help them improve their programs and better serve clients.

The grants to Prospera Housing Community Services and SA Youth draw on funding from the Ballmer Group, an organization co-founded by civic activist Connie Ballmer and her husband and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

The couple announced in August that they were investing $59 million over five years in Social Solutions to use in developing their product and making their software more financially feasible for nonprofits.

“Social service organizations can often be 20 years behind the private sector in the availability and use of data and technology, and so in order to help nonprofits and the families they serve, we want to support leaders in this field like Social Solutions,” Connie Ballmer said in a statement.

The matching grants will cover half of the licensing costs for Social Solutions’ software.

The company declined to disclose the match amount.

Nonprofits often don’t have room in their budget to invest in new software, and many still are using pen and paper to track information, said Alexis Zotalis, director of education solutions for Social Solutions.

Grants they receive usually have specific requirements around how they can use the money, she added.

Prospera, which provides affordable housing and and support services for adults and youths, plans to use the software to track factors such as students’ GPAs, said Carmen Hancock, vice president of resident services.

It hopes to eventually work with school districts to create a “well-rounded picture of each youth and how they’re doing in and out of school,” she said.

Another goal is integrating the new software with their existing property management program to cut down on evictions. The nonprofit also plans to use it to help “capture impacts that we’re making on social determinants of health outside of the health care realm,” she said.

The software is “a lifesaver” for SA Youth, president and CEO Asia Ciaravino said.

With it, the nonprofit can merge the data it collects through several systems into one database, and based on the information it has for each kid, it can customize programming, she said. The software also cuts down on the time staff might have to spend researching and compiling information.

“Without it, we would be back in the Dark Ages,” Ciaravino said.

In deciding which cities and organizations to work with, Social Solutions looked at factors like total student body population and the concentration of nonprofits that serve students and provide youth services, Zotalis said.

Social Solutions came up with a list of “cities with the least friction,” which included San Antonio, Zotalis said. Prospera’s and SA Youth’s missions also aligned with Social Solutions and the Ballmer Group, she added.

They plan to use the funding to provide grants to organizations in other cities as well.

Madison Iszler covers manufacturing, technology and other business topics for the San Antonio Express-News.

Before joining the Express-News, Madison covered retail, small businesses and other topics at the Albany Times Union and worked on a project about Social Security disability benefits. She also worked as a general assignment reporter at the Raleigh News & Observer and wrote a two-part series about the state’s farm workers.